Confusing day for guest list at Tea Party event in Iowa

It's been confusing keeping track of who's scheduled to speak at a Tea Party of America rally in Iowa.

The Des Moines Register and others now report that after a day of back and forth, Christine O'Donnell is again disinvited and Sarah Palin is back to a confirmed "yes" for the Indianola event.

Our original post begins here:

Christine O'Donnell is back in the lineup for a Tea Party of America rally in Iowa.

O'Donnell, the Delaware Republican who lost her race for the U.S. Senate last year, was first invited, then booted from the lineup of Tea Party speakers Saturday.

The group has reversed course and reinvited O'Donnell, who defeated moderate congressman Mike Castle for the GOP Senate nomination. She lost the general election to Democrat Chris Coons.

"We're making room for her," Tea Party of America President Ken Crow told The News Journal of Wilmington, Del., on Tuesday. "We welcome her and look forward to hearing her speech."

Charlie Gruschow, an organizer of the event, told The Wall Street Journal yesterday that O'Donnell was disinvited after his group got e-mails complaining about her being in the lineup. He told The News Journal that he's "taking the sword" for the confusion.

Crow admitted to the Delaware newspaper that he received complaints from some Tea Party supporters about O'Donnell's appearance on CNN this month, in which she walked out of an interview with Piers Morgan after he started asking her questions about gay marriage and masturbation.

Both topics came up during her Senate bid because of her previous statements, but O'Donnell said she walked off the show because she had agreed to talk only about her new book.

O'Donnell is still trying to live down a comment she made years ago that she dabbled in witchcraft, which spawned a Senate commercial last year of her saying, "I'm not a witch. ... I'm you." She told CNN recently that she hated the TV spot.

The headliner for the Tea Party of America event this weekend in Iowa is Sarah Palin, the former Alaska governor who is considering whether to run for president next year.

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About Catalina Camia

Catalina Camia leads the OnPolitics online community and has been at USA TODAY since 2005. She has been a reporter or editor covering politics and Congress for two decades, including stints at The Dallas Morning News and Congressional Quarterly. Follow her at @USATOnPolitics.